Washed Out and Grey: The Fate of Your Photos

Even the best photographers make the mistake of taking washed out photos so don’t beat yourself too much about it. You can take better photos especially on delightful sunny days by keeping these things in mind.

Shoot During the Golden Hour

While sunlight makes your photos so beautiful in many ways, you have to remember that it can also be your worst enemy. Sunlight can be harsh in that it can put people, places and objects in a bad light at certain times of the day. Your first step then is to avoid taking photos during the midday, if possible.

Why? At midday, the sun is at its highest point in the sky, which means that its glare is at its strongest, too. Your photos will have a washed out effect because your camera picks up the harsh light, thus, virtually drowning out the central images.

In contrast, when you work during the first hour of sunlight and the last hour at sunset, the light will gave a soft quality about it that enhances images. Your shots will have warm and golden tones that evoke a sense of serenity.

The bottom line: Shoot your photos during the golden hour – the first hours of sunlight in the morning and the last hour of sunlight in the evening. Just don’t take the “hour” too literally as it can last anywhere from a half-hour to just a few minutes depending on environmental conditions.  

When you take photos during the golden hour, you will immediately observe several positive changes. Your photos have a more colorful and vibrant palette with radiant reds and yellows; your sky shots have a bright blue hue without the glare of sunlight; and the pure white patches are filled with color.  

Use Polarizing Filters

But there are instances when you have to shoot during the brightest hours of the day. Fortunately, you can use polarizing filters to reduce the sun’s glare and, hence, restore color to your photos. 

Polarizing filters are popular tools among professional photographers because of their versatility.  These can be used to see through water, so to speak, by reducing the glare on the water’s surface; to decrease the reflected glare on foliage; and to darken the skies while still keeping the clouds white.  You have to experiment with your polarizing filters since each shot will likely require a separate filter for the best image.

Indeed, why let your photos be washed out and gray when you can do something about it?